by Jennie Dah
Nicholas had to leave easy this morning because he said he had to go to the Castle for some kind of emergency meeting and I really gave thought to taking this time to leave but I just can’t seem to make myself get of the couch and walk out the door. The other night flashes through my heard and a horde of butterflies take flight in my tummy and I smile stupidly bouncing in excitement and anticipation.
'HEY!!!’ I yell into my mind again as loudly as I can manage.
‘Celia, stop doing that, it’s quite distracting.’
My eyes widen in shock and I shake my head in denial. No way.
‘Nick?’ I say cautiously my heart racing.
'Yes.’
‘Oh my God, how are you doing that?’ I gasp rubbing at my temples. He sounds like he’s speaking directly into my ear and I shiver at the intimacy of the whole thing.
'Uh… you called me.’
'I wasn’t talking to you actually. Is this like one of your superpowers? It’s so cool,’ I cry in delight completely astonished at just how amazing he is.
‘No,’ he sighs and I hear it as if he’s sitting right here with me. ‘There’s something I haven’t told you.’
'Really? What?’ I say distractedly still amazed at this new development.
‘We’re sort of umm…uhh...you know…bonded?’
‘Mmm? How? When did this happen? I thought you said first non-bonded person I saw? Technically, I saw that doctor guy first.”
I frown when he stays silent for too long.
‘Nick?’ I try again but still get no response from him.
I think I lost reception. Can that happen? ‘NICHOLAS!!’
‘Ow, I can hear you just fine,’ he hisses and I wince.
'Oh, sorry,” I mutter sheepishly but still burning with curiosity. ‘So?’
‘Well, you saw me first,’ he says in a rush.
'No, I saw you later that night,’ I say with a little nervous laugh. ‘Right?’
That day is still a little fuzzy to me.
‘No, you saw me months earlier before you woke up,’ he breathes roughly and I blink not sure what to think.
'That can’t be, I only woke up days ago,’ I say slowly trying to remember when I would have been awake and suck in a sharp breath at the sharp piercing pain that shoot through my skull. “Besides the doctor guy said only a connection will be formed at first but you need a shaman present to strengthen the bond or something.’
‘That isn’t what happened with us. We’re pretty much bonded,’ he grunts. “We even have the bond marks too.”
'How did you do it. Is that also part of your abilities?’ I ask absently raising my top to search for the mark. I give up with a tired sigh when I don’t see anything. Maybe mine will come later? Or is it invisible? I haven’t seen any tattoos on Nicholas either the few times I’ve seen him shirtless.
‘No, it was you.’
‘Me what?’ I ask in confusion. “I don’t understand.”
‘I mean it wasn’t me, I didn’t bond us,’ he says slowly like he’s afraid of saying the words. ‘You did.’
‘That can’t be, I don’t have any powers. I’m not even sure if I’m one of you guys,’ I admit reluctantly.
'I’m pretty sure you’re one of us,’ he murmurs absently. ‘Well we’re wrapping up here, I’ll be there in a second.’
'What?’ I frown at his words but I feel him pull away from me the very next second.
“Ahh!!” I screech loudly when he suddenly appears out of thin air.
Oh my God, this is getting real now. Before, I could put everything out of my mind and not think about it because there was a part of me that didn’t believe all that I’ve been told and I haven’t seen anyone burst into a wild animal yet so it was easy. Now, not so much.
“I’m sorry. It just seemed like the easiest way to get here faster,” he says apologetically rubbing my arms soothingly.
“No, it’s fine,” I rasp and then clear my throat shock rushing through me.
“Are you okay?” he asks after a while when I keep staring at him. “Baby you look a little shaken up.”
“Uh huh,” I mumble with a little nod and he lets go of me with a heavy sigh.
“Do you want to go over to the arena?” he asks going into the kitchen. “Or you want to go a little later in the afternoon.”
“Why?” I ask following behind him. I don’t remember wanting to go to any arena today or any day for that matter.
“Because it’s the second challenge today, the fight for women?”
“That’s today?” I frown and then groan inwardly. I really don’t want to be out in public again so soon with that many people around while there’s a chance the person looking for me is still out there.
“Yeah. And you can’t get out of it. Every woman is obligated to go,” he says sternly taking in my expression.
“Even little girls?” I groan moving back to the couch.
“There’s nothing little about you,” he growls sending shivers down my spine.
“But there has to be an age limit to this thing, right?” I croak biting on my lip at the look on his face. Damn this guy really can get me to do anything if he tried.
“Yeah, of course. We are not a bunch of wild animals living in the forest,” he says defensively looking indignant. I look out the window at the trees surrounding the houses on the other side and then back at him.
Mmhm, sure.
“So I can get out of it then?” I ask and he sighs.
“No, you’re past seventeen,” he says calmly pinching the bridge of his nose disappearing back into the kitchen.
“Only by two years,” I whine. “I was going to take you out tonight.”
“Wait, you’re nineteen?” He asks coming to stand in the doorway. Why’s he so surprised. I thought I looked nineteen?
“Yeah, why?”
“I’m a terrible person. I can’t believe this,” he says pacing back and forth, running a hand roughly through his hair in agitation. Ookay.
“How old are you?” I ask slowly starting to freak out too.
“Toummmunn,” he mumbles with his back to me.
Huh? Does he mean forty? “Oh my God! You’re forty years old?” I gasp and shake my head not wanting to believe it. “But you don’t look a day over twenty eight. Someone might mistake you for a thirty year old with your beard but you still look twenty eight to me.”
“Celia, I’m not forty years old—”
“Don’t tell me you’re older,” I cry and he shrugs turning back to face me. “How old are you?”
“Two hundred and twenty three,” he says gruffly his voice much more clearer now.
“I can handle twenty three,” I say my heart rate getting back to normal.
“I—”
“You’re twenty three,” I breathe deeply with a definite nod.
“Celia, I said—”
“Blah blah blah, I can’t hear you,” I say loudly covering my ears. Just then the sound of a gong fills the air and I look at him in confusion.
“It’s time for the fight, we should head over,” he says resignedly.
“I still can’t believe you’re old,” I say to myself while heading for the stairs
“Hey I’m not that old,” he yells after me. Inside the bedroom, I quickly go through the box Stella brought over for some clothes before taking a quick shower and throwing on my clothes.
I head out to meet Nicholas but run back inside to grab my phone and earplugs before rushing out again. I meet Nicholas downstairs and we’re out the door the next instant. He does some twisty thing with his hand and murmur something under his breath before we leave.
“What was that you did back there?” I ask heading towards the building the singing challenge happened in. Nick takes my hands and pulls me towards the trees instead and I eyes him warily. We’re going in there?
‘A protective spell to activate the shield around the house.’
“Cool. Does every house have one? Or is it just you?” I
ask curiously.
'Don't talk out loud. Nobody knows I have it.’
“Oh, so it’s a secret? Like a secret spy movie, huh?” I whisper underneath my breath. I look up at Nick and zip my mouth shut when he glares at me. ‘Sorry.’
‘It’s fine.’ He sighs. ‘I’ve just been on edge lately. I didn’t mean to glare at you.”
‘You’re cute.’
“So,” I say loudly and he turns to look at me horror. “Why are you taking me into the woods?”
He relaxes, his hand loosening a little on mine. “The arena.”
“It’s in the woods?” I ask pulling on his hand before we can break into the trees.
“Yeah, section of the forest has been cleared to make it. It look just like a football stadium.”
“By football, do you mean your kind of football or my kind of football?”
“Huh? There are different types of football?” he stops to stare at me with a frown pulling at his mouth and his head cocked to the side.
“Yes. My kind is the one you actually play with your foot hence football,” I explain. “And yours I’m guessing is the one you play with your hands with your ass raised high in the air.”
A laugh burst out of him and I shrug at his incredulous expression and start walking. He catches up with me and put Botha his hands over my ears just the sounds of growls and snarls rent the air. I really want to stop and look behind me but we keep walking.
These place is starting to give me the creeps which is serious since I never scare easily and this trees don’t make me feel safe like the ones back home. An image flashes through my head causing a spike of fear to shoot through my chest and I stumble and grab tight onto Nick’s arm.
He turns to me with a worried look and I smile at him but I don’t think I manage a convincing enough one not when he stops to stare at me for a while before we start moving again.
What the hell was that? I try to remember what it was that flashed through my mind but I can’t. I push it out of my mind and after a while of walking we finally emerge out of the trees to a stadium as big as any I’ve ever seen before. Well on TV anyway.
Wow! And the light and everything. When he’d told me about the fights I assumed the place will look like the backroom of some butcher’s shop. Uneven concrete floor with dried blood and the stench so overpowering you’ll have to peg your nose. My imagination is really just active that way. This place is really beautiful.
My head whips around when a frightening growl fills the air making my heart jump. What the hell? I look around for the source of the sound but I don’t find it. I jump a mile high when the sound comes again but much more louder than before.
Who the hell is making the freaking sound? People around us are starting to look around worriedly too. I step into Nick knowing he won’t let anyone hurt me and then my skin starts buzzing, prickling with electricity.
Like no joke. It felt like someone was running a current of electricity over my skin. I look up at Nick and rear back in surprise.
He looks like one of those warriors from the books I love reading but much more frightening with his lips pulled back in a snarl. And then I realize the growling sounds are coming from him. I sag in relief my heart calming.
Why does he look like he wants to rip something apart with his teeth? I turn in the direction he focused on and feel disgust wash over me when my eyes meet that of the idiot openly leering at me. I bare my teeth at him and his eyes widen but he quickly smooths out his expression before smirking at me.
He gets up from his seat and walks towards us. The growl that fills the air this time has gasps accompanying it. I feel the sound in my chest and I look around when my skin starts buzzing again. Those closest to us lower their head, their jaws tight and I start to genuinely worry.
Someone even whimpers painfully and I tug on Nick’s arm but he doesn’t budge. It’s like I’m trying to move a fucking mountain. I look up and that guy is almost to us and I’m actually scared Nick might hurt the idiot.
I look around for someone to come interfere but no one will meet my eyes. I look to door and breathe in relief when I see Michael and the guys push through into the large space. I whistle loudly hoping to get their attention and it works mostly because of the silence that has descended over the place.
I raise my hand and wave them over when they turn in my direction. They look at me with smiles but it falls of their faces when their eyes move to Nick. They hurriedly start towards us and I turn back to Nick trying to get him to calm down.
“Nick, come on. Let’s go, okay?” I say softly keeping my tone gentle and persuasive.
“We are not going anywhere until I’ve taught this infant a lesson,” I gasp at the gravely monotone and freeze when he looks down at me.
His eyes aren’t the usual beautiful grey I’m accustomed to but rather a piercing glowing yellow I’d seen yesterday in the kitchen. His voice washes over me making arousal thrum through my blood and my nipples bead.
Damn. Celia now’s not the time.
Yes. Of course the idiot.
I snap back to reality and shakily smile at him. I don’t know how this guy will react but if he’s anything like Nick, he wouldn’t want anything to happen to me either if a fight were to break out.
Raising a hand to his cheek I stare pleadingly at him for him to let it go. A little frown appears on his face and he takes a deep breath before nodding his head. His eyes start to fade back to their normal color and then the idiot decided to open his mouth.
“Hello sweetheart, why don’t you come with me and I’ll show you a good time?” he says his hand come up as if to touch my cheek but before I could move my face away from him, Nick’s hand comes up and grabs his. The sound of bones crushing reach my ears and my jaw hits the ground.
Holy shit! I didn’t know he was that strong. He’s always handled me with such care. The Idiot’s eyes widen in panic, a cry of pain leaving his mouth and Michael makes it to us then and stops a few feet from us.
He stares at me with wide eyes and grits his teeth as if he’s in some kind of pain. My skin is still buzzing and it’s starting to make my head fuzzy. I give it a little shake to clear it but it doesn’t do much.
I look around Michael and the others are also gritting their teeth with theirs lowered. What the hell is wrong with them? I look around and everyone seems to be acting the same way to. My skin stops buzzing and Michael visibly sags in relief and hurries forward to stand in front of Nicholas.
“Hey, man. You know the rules you can’t kill him out here, you have to make it a fair one,” Michael says shakily.
His eyes widen in shock but he quickly hides it when Nicholas turns to look at him. The buzzing energy fills the air again and I suddenly feel like I’m drunk, my body growing sluggish. I can barely stand on my own anymore.
My skin heats up and it feels like my skin is too tight for me and I want to take it off. My eyes widen in alarm when a gush of liquid leaves me and a little sound of surprise leaves m mouth.
Oh my God, no. I seriously can’t be turned on right now.
“You’re scaring her,” Michael adds misreading the look on my face.
Nick turn towards me again and grunts. He let’s his hand go and the buzzing energy disappears and a collective sigh of relief fill the air. Then everyone gasps again when Nick lifts the guy up over his head and throws him down into the ring in the middle of the place. He sails through the air yelling something unintelligible and lands on his face with a pained cry.
I try to swallow around the dry slab that is my tongue but nothing, my mouth is too dry. Damn. I pull down my collar a little to feel the cool air on my skin but it feels like everything is on fire in here. Nick descends the stair and I run after him grabbing his arm to stop him. He turns to me probably expecting me to tell him to stop.
“Crush every bone in his body after you’ve ripped his arm from his shoulder,” I tell him.
I grab his collar and pull him to me laying a hard kiss on his lips in
front of everyone. “I want him alive to face the humiliation of his stupidity.”
“As you wish,” that deep monotone washes through my body again making a slight shudder roll through me. He turns around and head down the steps again. Someone touches my shoulder and I whip around and relax when I see Stella and Dani.
We find seats close to the front to see everything clearly but far away enough to avoid blood splatters. Nick reaches him and steps into the ring and I groan at the picture of perfection he makes standing over that idiot.
With the way my body feels, I hope I don’t melt into a pile of mush by the time he’s done smashing that idiot or create a mini pond with the way I’m turned on right now.
Chapter 12
Nicholas
The roar of the crowd is deafening as I rip his hand from his shoulder and raise it over my head. Griff growls in satisfaction and I let the feeling wash through me. I look at the section I left Celia in and she has the biggest smile on her face while she screams along with the crowd looking at me proudly.
The look hits me in the gut as I roar out into the stadium and the crowd goes even crazier. My woman is proud of me. I’ve shown her what a strong mate I can be. I’ll be able to protect her and our children.
The asshole gets off the ground his face smudge with dry blood, a fresh gush flooding from his nose. Maybe it’s from the split in his lips. Clutching at the armless shoulder which is dripping blood all over the floor, he snarls at me his eyes burning fiercely shooting daggers at me.
“How’s that for someone who can’t shift, huh?” I taunt waving the hand in his face. He growls just as his eyes flash and the sound of bones snapping and reforming fills the air.
Idiot thinks he can defeat me in animal form. I scoff and wait him out. He wolf hasn’t even fully shifted before he’s leaping through the air to get to me his teeth aiming for my throat.
I ignore the gasp of the crowd as I catch him mid air and slam him down hard on the ground. I see the fear flash in his eyes but it gone quickly and he snaps his teeth at me and my hand twists in reaction snapping his neck.